Moscow denies a report claiming that Saudi Arabia had offered to adjust its oil production and create a crude price rise in exchange for Russia withdrawing support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The report in the New
York Times cited an anonymous Saudi and US diplomatic
sources as saying that Riyadh used its large oil market share as
leverage in negotiations with Moscow.

“If oil can serve to bring peace in Syria, I don’t see how
Saudi Arabia would back away from trying to reach a deal,” a
Saudi diplomat was quoted as saying.

The report was denied by Aleksey Pushkov, the head of the Foreign
Affairs Committee in the Russian State Duma.

“The New York Times distorted information so many times,
especially since the Ukrainian crisis started. I wouldn't advise
you taking it as a reliable source. There were no talks of such
exchange,” the official told RSN radio station.

He added that the Russian delegation headed by Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev, which visited Saudi Arabia for the funeral of
late King Abdullah, did discuss oil-related issues, but no shady
deals were proposed.

“We discussed oil, pricing, coordination between OPEC members
and non-member states. The talks were positive and constructive.
There was no Syrian dimension in them,” Pushkov said.

He added that Saudi Arabia is in the process of changing its
position on the Syrian crisis and distancing itself from the
armed conflict.

The report was also denied by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov,
who called it “nothing more but speculation by the
paper.”

Saudi Arabia has been an outspoken critic of the Syrian
government over the years of civil war there. It was reported to
supply weapons to various opposition groups seeking to topple
Assad.

Russia remained an ally of Assad and negotiated a deal with the
US, which led to dismantling of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
The deal saved face for Washington, having pledged to use
military force against Damascus due to alleged use of chemical
weapons, but being reluctant to actually do it.

The oil market experienced the biggest drop in price in years in
2014, imperiling the economies of oil exporters, including Russia
and Saudi Arabia. Riyadh said it would not reduce its output
regardless of the price do protect its market share.